Total responses (n) for each question may not equal 1245 due to respondents not answering that particular question.

The sample was not controlled and may not represent all screen reader users.

Data was analyzed using JMP Statistical Discovery Software version 8.

We hope to conduct a survey of this nature again in the future. If you have recommendations or questions you would like asked, please let us know.

Demographics

Disability Reported

Do you use a screen reader due to a disability?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

1107

91%

No

111

9%

Screen Reader Proficiency

Please rate your screen reader proficiency

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Advanced

644

52.6%

Intermediate

504

41.2%

Beginner

75

6.1%

Those who use screen readers due to a disability report themselves as being much more proficient with screen readers. 3% of those with disabilities considered their proficiency to be "Beginner" compared to 36% of those without disabilities.

Internet Proficiency

Please rate your proficiency using the Internet

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Advanced

765

62.5%

Intermediate

437

35.7%

Beginner

22

1.7%

61% of those who use screen readers due to a disability reported "Advanced" Internet proficiency compared to 86% of those without disabilities.

Primary Screen Reader

Which of the following is your primary desktop/laptop screen reader?

Screen Reader

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

JAWS

727

59.2%

Window-Eyes

138

11.2%

VoiceOver

120

9.8%

NVDA

105

8.6%

System Access or System Access To Go

58

4.7%

ZoomText

40

3.3%

Other

40

3.3%

Most notable is a significant decline in primary usage of JAWS - down to 59.2% from 66.4% as reported in October 2009. All other screen readers saw an increase in usage, with NVDA gaining the greatest ground with a nearly 300% increase in usage in 14 months. There was no marked difference in primary screen reader use between respondents with and without disabilities; however, those without disabilities were more likely to use NVDA (19.8% of respondents) than those with disabilities (7.6%). Those with a screen reader proficiency of "Beginner" were less likely to use JAWS and Window-Eyes and 3 times more likely to use NVDA than those with "Advanced" screen reader proficiency.

Screen Readers Commonly Used

Which of the following desktop/laptop screen readers do you commonly use? (select all that apply)

Screen Reader

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

JAWS

866

69.6%

Window-Eyes

236

19.0%

VoiceOver

251

20.2%

NVDA

433

34.8%

System Access or System Access To Go

202

16.2%

ZoomText

76

6.1%

Other

92

7.4%

JAWS (75.2% to 69.6%), Window-Eyes (23.5% to 19.0%), and System Access (22.3% to 16.2%) saw decreases in usage since October 2009. VoiceOver (6% in January 2009 to 14.6% in October 2009 to 20.2% in December 2010) and NVDA (8% in January 2009 to 25.6% in October 2009 to 34.8% in December 2010) saw significant increases in usage.

The following chart shows changes in screen reader usage over time.

47% of respondents commonly use more than one screen reader, 20% use more than two, and 7% use more than three screen readers.

Screen Reader Updates

Has your primary screen reader been updated in the last year?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

961

80%

No

241

20%

The vast majority of respondents updated their primary screen reader within the previous year. This is slightly higher than the 75% who reported updating within a year in January 2009, but slightly lower than the 83.6% who reported the same in October 2009. It's important to note, however, that many users may still be using screen readers that are several years old.

Browsers

When using your primary screen reader, which browser do you use most often?

Browser

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Internet Explorer 8

522

43.1%

Firefox 3+

285

23.5%

Internet Explorer 7

151

12.5%

Safari

116

9.6%

Internet Explorer 6

63

5.2%

Internet Explorer 9

54

4.5%

Others

20

1.7%

Internet Explorer accounts for 65.3% of the browser share among respondents. At the time of publication, this is significantly higher than that of the general population. When compared to the October 2009 survey, Internet Explorer usage dropped from 70.9% whereas Firefox (18.8% to 23.5%) and Safari (8.3% to 9.6%) usage both increased. Those without disabilities were twice as likely as those with disabilities to use Firefox (43.7% compared to 21.8%) and much less likely to use Internet Explorer (47.6% compared to 66.5%).

JavaScript Enabled

Respondents with JavaScript enabled

JavaScript Enabled

% of Respondents

Yes

98.4%

No

1.6%

10.4% of respondents to the October 2009 survey indicated that they have JavaScript disabled in their web browser. As respondents submitted responses to this survey we detected the presence of JavaScript. We found that very few respondents had it disabled or unavailable in their web browser. Of the 19 respondents with JavaScript disabled, 12 were using Firefox (presumably with the NoScript add-on enabled) and 5 were using Lynx with Linux.

Free/Low-cost Screen Readers

Do you see free or low-cost screen readers (such as NVDA or VoiceOver) as currently being viable alternatives to commercial screen readers?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

752

60.4%

No

184

14.8%

I Don't Know

309

24.8%

47.8% answered "Yes" to this question in October 2009. The perception of free or low-cost screen readers seems to have improved.

Perhaps not surprisingly, 54% of JAWS users and 47% of Window-Eyes users answered "Yes" compared to an overwhelming 98% of NVDA users and 95% of VoiceOver users.

Mobile Screen Readers

Mobile Screen Reader Usage

Do you use a screen reader on a mobile phone or mobile handheld device?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Yes

796

66.7%

No

398

33.3%

This represents a 550% increase in mobile screen reader usage in under two years (only 12% reported using a mobile screen reader in January 2009) and a significant increase over the 53% that reported using a mobile screen reader in October 2009. Mobile screen reader use among those without disabilities is also much higher at 32% compared to just 8% in October 2009. Not surprisingly, more proficient screen reader users were more likely to use a mobile screen reader (79% of advanced users compared to only 26% of beginners), though the mobile screen reader usage by beginners was only 3% in October 2009, suggesting a broader adoption across screen reader users.

Mobile Platforms

Which of the following is your primary mobile platform?

Mobile Platform

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Nokia

400

42.4%

Apple iPhone or iPod touch

308

32.6%

Android

38

4.0%

Blackberry

10

1.1%

Palm

3

.3%

Other

185

19.6%

22% of those without disabilities use an Android device compared to only 2% of those with disabilities. Nokia usage was 3 times higher among those with disabilities than among those without disabilities. iPhone usage was largely the same among these populations.

Mobile Screen Readers Used

Which of the following mobile screen readers do you commonly use? (Choose all that apply)

Web Accessibility Progress

Previous Year

Which of the following best describes your feelings regarding the accessibility of web content over the previous year?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Web content has become more accessible

440

37.2%

Web content accessibility has not changed

501

42.3%

Web content has become less accessible

243

20.5%

Respondents have become less optimistic in this regard - 46.3% responded that web content had become more accessible in the previous year when asked in October 2009, but only 37.2% answered the same in December 2010. Only 4% of those without disabilities thought web content had become less accessible compared to 22% of those with disabilities.

Next Year

Which of the following best describes your outlook regarding the accessibility of web content over the next year?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Web content will become more accessible

641

55.1%

Web content accessibility will not change

305

26.2%

Web content will become less accessible

218

18.7%

Despite a rather tepid response to progress over the previous year, respondents were generally quite optimistic regarding future progress. As shown above, those without disabilities were more optimistic about future web accessibility than those with disabilities.

Impacts on Accessibility

Which of the following do you think would have a bigger impact on improvements to web accessibility?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Better (more accessible) web sites

916

75.8%

Better assistive technology

293

24.2%

In October 2009, 68.6% of respondents answered "better web sites" to this question. This change perhaps reflects improvements to assistive technology or possibly the shift to other screen readers such as NVDA or VoiceOver. There was minimal difference between the responses based on disability, proficiency, or screen reader used.

Social Media

Which of the following social media sites or tools do you frequently use?

Social Media Tool

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Blogs

531

42.6%

Facebook

650

52.2%

LinkedIn

200

16.1%

MySpace

46

3.7%

Twitter

533

42.8%

YouTube

671

51.9%

Music sharing sites

109

8.8%

Social media usage is largely unchanged since October 2009, with Facebook seeing an increase in usage from 42% to 52.2% of respondents. MySpace saw a decrease from 9% to 3.7%. Respondents without disabilities were somewhat more likely to use all of the social media tools listed.

Social Media Accessibility

In general, how accessible are social media web sites to you?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Very Accessible

101

9.3%

Somewhat Accessible

567

52.3%

Somewhat Inaccessible

262

24.1%

Very Inaccessible

89

8.2%

I Don't Know

66

6.1%

HTML5

Which of the following best describes your feelings regarding HTML5?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

HTML5 will increase web accessibility

348

33.7%

HTML5 will not change web accessibility

119

11.5%

HTML5 will decrease web accessibility

55

5.3%

I don't know

511

49.5%

Nearly half of respondents didn't know their feelings regarding HTML5. Of those that expressed opinions, the majority have a positive outlook regarding HTML5. Respondents without disabilities were more optimistic - 47% answered that it will increase web accessibility compared to 32% of those with disabilities.

ARIA Landmarks

ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) introduces something called landmarks. These provide quick access to page areas, such as navigation, search, and main content. Which of the following best describes your use of landmarks?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

I didn't know this functionality existed

342

30.9%

I do not use landmarks for navigation

287

25.9%

I sometimes use landmarks for navigation

277

25.0%

I use landmarks for navigation whenever they are present

161

14.5%

My screen reader does not support landmarks

40

3.6%

Awareness of landmarks has increased - 42% were unaware of this functionality in October 2009. However, these data continue to show mixed levels of usage.

Finding Information

When trying to find information on a lengthy web page, which of the following are you most likely to do first?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Navigate through the headings on the page

693

57.2%

Use the "Find" feature

261

21.5%

Navigate through the links of the page

155

12.8%

Read through the page

103

8.5%

The use of headings to find information has increased from 50.8% to 57.2% since October 2009, while all other methods saw decreases in use over this time period. These responses show the prevalent use of headings and underscore our previous findings which indicate that a good heading structure is a very important aspect of web accessibility and usability. Those with advanced screen reader proficiency are more likely to use headings over other methods (64% use headings) than those with beginner proficiency (44% use headings).

"Skip" Links

When a "skip to main content" or "skip navigation" link is available on a page, how often do you use it?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Whenever they're available

189

15.2%

Often

202

16.2%

Sometimes

363

29.2%

Seldom

270

21.7%

Never

169

13.6%

No Response

52

4.2%

When compared to responses to the January 2009 survey, there has been a slight decrease in the usage of "skip" links. This may likely be due to increased usage of headings and landmarks for navigation as noted above.

Access keys

When access keys (keys defined by web site developers to provide page-specific shortcuts) are available on a page, how often do you use them?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Whenever they're available

198

15.9%

Often

144

11.6%

Sometimes

328

26.3%

Seldom

282

22.7%

Never

245

19.7%

No Response

48

3.9%

27.5% of respondents indicate that they always or often use access keys, a decrease from 38% in the January 2009 survey.

Mobile Versions

If a mobile version of a web site is available, how often do you use it instead of the standard web site?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Whenever they're available

154

13.9%

Often

223

20.1%

Sometimes

340

30.7%

Seldom

176

15.9%

Never

214

19.3%

Using mobile versions of a site is more common among respondents who are less proficient with their screen reader.

Text-only or Screen Reader Versions

If a text-only or screen reader version of a web site is available, how often do you use it?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Whenever they're available

272

21.9%

Often

191

15.3%

Sometimes

331

26.6%

Seldom

228

18.3%

Never

162

13.0%

No Response

61

4.9%

These responses are largely unchanged from responses to the January 2009 survey. Only 14% of those without disabilities reported using text-only or screen reader versions often or whenever they're available compared to 39% of those with disabilities. This may suggest that those with disabilities find greater usage in text-only or screen reader versions than those without disabilities might think or hope. Despite this, the fact that so many users seldom or never use such sites suggests that this approach to accessibility is not optimal.

Heading Structures

Which of the following page heading structures is easiest for you?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

One first level heading that contains the site name

136

12.5%

One first level heading that contains the document title

403

37.1%

Two first level headings, one for the site name and one for the document title

546

50.3%

These responses are of interest as the use of two <h1>s is generally at odds with most recommendations. Of note is that a single <h1> for the site name is by far the least desired.

Longdesc

How useful is longdesc (a method of providing a long description for complex images) to you?

Response

# of Respondents

% of Respondents

Very useful

286

26.2%

Somewhat useful

375

34.4%

Not very useful

123

11.3%

Not at all useful

59

5.4%

I don't know

247

22.7%

These responses show a strong usefulness of the longdesc attribute, which is currently under debate for omission from HTML5. Also of note is that 22.7% of respondents do not know the usefulness of longdesc, suggesting a need for better education or presentation of this functionality in screen readers.

Conclusion

The conclusion identified in the previous screen reader user surveys remains - there is no typical screen reader user. These results highlight significant changes and trends over a span of only 2 years, results that we hope will drive informed web accessibility practices.

A few items of note:

JAWS is still the primary screen reader, but usage is decreasing as usage of NVDA and VoiceOver significantly increases.

The perception of free or low-cost screen readers is improving.

98.4% of respondents had JavaScript enabled.

The outlook for future web accessibility is optimistic.

Two-thirds of the respondents use a screen reader on a mobile device, up from only 12% two years ago.